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Aberdeen May Festival 2016

For a small city, Aberdeen is blessed with festivals throughout the year – from art to architecture, sound to science, dance to drums, there is indeed something for everyone. Last weekend was the best of them all: Aberdeen University’s May Festival, covering literature, poetry, music and science, and featuring events for all ages.

A taste of London under the trees, a tea shop masquerading as a bus:

Wayne Price and Jen Cooper Talk:

An hour of sea, salt and silence; a melody of the mundane made beautiful. Jen Cooper’s poems transported us to the sea, the moon and back, in a beautiful lullaby of life. An enchanting narrative of nature: herons, gulls and foxes shared their animal antics, amidst visions of a sea that stretched to forever.

Dr Wayne Price’s “Salt” metamorphised our minds in to a vulnerable teenager, feeling his frustration, fighting his feelings. We were simply there. The skill of well-written prose: no barriers, you are just present with the power of the word. I could have listened to him for hours.

Kings College:

David Wheatley and Sheena Blackhall Talk:

From Iceland to illusion, from literature to laughter, this talk took us to all the nuances inbetween. Dr Wheatley’s poetry massaged the mind, words woven together to create magic, solace to the soul. The multi-talented Sheena Blackhall entertained with poetry, song and humour that was an art in itself.

Find out more: May Festival

Hidden Cinemas of Aberdeen

Hidden Aberdeen Tours are an informative, entertaining and above all unique way to learn about Aberdeen. www.hiddenaberdeen.co.uk

This weekend I took the Lost Cinemas Tour, a cruise down a river of nostalgia and urban legend, a journey of discovery and delight. Walking through today’s streets, a fleeting vision appeared of yesterday, a performance unfinished in time, a sleeping shadow behind the Aberdeen granite.

This walking tour satisfied the soul’s quest for marvels. Over the years Aberdeen has hosted no less than 42 cinemas, their song snuffed silent long ago, with only a single historic one left: the Belmont. Moonlight that fades before dawn, art deco cinemas, the finest architecture of the day, have retreated beneath the dust of progress, their soul haunting the brickwork that survives, thirsting for a beauty so long denied.

Dr Fiona-Jane Brown narrated a mesmerizing tale of gems of the past, jewels in Aberdeen’s architectural history, their ghost raised from the ashes and given the send off they so deserve.

Find out all about Aberdeen’s fascinating cinemas on the next scheduled walk on Friday 24th June. Walking Tour dates

The remaining facade of the once famous Capitol Theatre (now a major office development).

Scottish Ballet: Swan Lake

Swan Lake is an old time favourite. The Scottish Ballet 2016 production is refreshingly modern, while retaining the authenticity and tragedy of the original story. Transported to a tranquil land of en pointe magic, the music and dance combined in a delicious expression of eternity.

Sophie Martin delivered a gentle yet powerful rendition of Odette, the beauty of the Swan Queen in each step, her song shouting from within each graceful move. Christopher Harrison stunned as Siegfried, a gifted dancer who embraced the love and tragedy of the role and made it his own.

Choreographer David Dawson made the bold move of removing all tutus, set designs and general aplomb. By their omission, we were drawn deeper in to the story of each dancer, no barriers to perceiving the beauty of their bodies and the melody of movement. In this performance, the dancers are everything: the focus, the fusion, the finale.

However, the production retained the time-defying music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, a composer for each century, a music that can not die. There were beautiful interludes of mere music: the opportunity to close one’s eyes and just be, at one with the meaning of the symphony.

All in all, a great performance, and a ten star gold rating for this seamless marriage of modernity and authenticity. Ballet at its best, this is a performance with something for all.